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Terrorism/CT

Since 2011, this blog has mainly been using Dr Boaz Ganor's Definition of Terrorism:

"Terrorism is the intentional use of, or threat to use, violence against civilians or against civilian targets, in order to attain political aims (..) based on three important elements:The essence of the activity (i.e. an activity that doesn't involve the use, or threat to use, violence will not be defined as terrorism).The aim of the activity is always political (i.e. in the absence of a political goal, the activity in quest will not be defined as terrorism). The targets are civilians (i.e. acts are purposely directed at civilians; which distinguishes terrorist acts from other kinds of political violence [e.g. guerrilla warfare and civil insurrection]."

Most Popular This Week

Iran is blowing the wind of War. 70 Years ago, the Arab States ganged up against the Jewish State to no avail. 70 years later, Iran and its minions are also preparing themselves to attack Israel. Last weekend, an Iranian drone invaded the Israeli airspace (via Syria) and Israel responded decisively (see details here). So far, Russia has responded as usual (urging all sides to restrain themselves) but it is recommended that Moscow reviews its interests very quickly.

By Scott Morgan
The Airstrikes launched by the United States against Militia units that support the Government of Bashir Assad on Feb 8, 2018 present a tantalizing opportunity for analysts around the world to guess what the motives of the Trump Administration are.

Which one is better for civilians: full-fledged Wars or State Sponsored Assassinations? This is one of those dilemmas, however realism begs this question since conflicts among humans will never end and therefore there's the need to design new ways for States to get rid of foes without involving civilians in the utter destruction that ensues an all-out war.

"Morpheus: Welcome to the desert of the real." - Matrix
Logic commands that formulas that do not work are to be discarded. However, in Politics, this rule hasn't been applied at all and we now see the gradual fall our of societies into chaos as a result. Moreover, not only have politicians, since the WWII, been resisting change but they have also clung to lies, disinformation and manipulation of reality.

The leading star of this week's video is Zico (one of the most famous contemporary artists in Mozambique) who offers us a mix of two of his songs (Tauas and Vamos Embora [= let's go, in Portuguese]). Zico's themes are almost always the same: women (avassati in Ronga), and he sings primarily in both Ronga and Changana (although he often manages to inject some Portuguese in the middle). What I like about Zico's work is the beat, because his lyrics are silly and his video clips are vulgar [except when he, and his mates, show some cool Mozambican dance steps]. That being said, his art is club music (where nobody cares about what the artist is saying). Dance away!

By Scott Morgan
The row between Sudan and a group of nations including Eritrea, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates has escalated on a slow scale that for the most part has gone unnoticed by most of the major international news outlets.